Semester 2 Week 13
Credit: Kami Harris
Amendment [XIX]
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. The amendment gave all women who are otherwise eligible the right to vote.
Amendment [XX]
This gives newly elected Senators and Congressmen the right to assume their respective offices at noon on the third day of January following their election in November, eliminated what were known as “lame duck” sessions in Congress. After the Constitution was ratified by the required number of states, the new government officially began operation on March 4, 1789. Therefore, the terms of Senators and congressmen always began and ended on March 4 in odd-numbered years. Because Article 1, section 4, clause 2 of the Constitution required sessions of Congress to begin on the first Monday in December each year, those who were defeated in the November elections (always in even numbered years) were required to attend the next session until their terms expired the following March 4. Referred to as “lame ducks,” they continued to represent people who had refused to elect them. Those who had won the November elections were not entitled to take office until their predecessors’ terms had expired. Therefore, since the next Congress would not assemble in regular session until the December following March 4, they were not able to take office for more than thirteen months after the election was held! The twentieth amendment solved this serious problem by enabling newly elected Senators and Congressmen to take office on January 3, some two months after their election instead of the former thirteen months. Also, it shortened the interval between the convening of Congress and the inauguration of the President and Vice President from three months to less than three weeks.
1: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin. This gave the newly elected President and Vice President the right to assume their respective offices at noon on the twentieth day of January following their election the previous November.2: The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. This requires the Congress to meet at least once each year, but gives it the right to select an alternat date to meet should January 3 prove inconvenient for any reason.
3: If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified. This gives the American people the right to have the office of President promptly filled in spite of any contravening circumstances which might occur.
4: The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them. This provision gives the Congress the right to select an acting President of the United States in case neither the President nor the Vice-President can qualify, and he shall continue acting as President until one of them can qualify. It is conceivable that a situation could arise where neither the President nor the Vice President could get a majority vote as required by the Constitution. This could easily occur if a multitude of political parties suddenly appeared on the scene, a situation that already exists in many other countries. It sometimes requires a considerable length of time to work up a coalition government, the leader of which can enjoy the support of a majority in the legislature. This provision anticipates such a situation and provides the necessary legal remedy to prevent a lapse of leadership during the qualifying process. It is conceivable that a Vice President might qualify when the President-elect could not. In case, the Vice President could serve as acting President until the President could qualify. However, the real problem arises where neither can qualify. This amendment give Congress the power to select a person as acting President until either the President can qualify or the Vice President is available o serve in his place.
5: Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
6: This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
Amendment [XXI]
1: The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
2: The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
3: This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
This provision returned to the states the right to regulate the manufacture and distribution of alcoholic beverages, and gave each state the right not to have intoxicating liquors transported into its domain in violation of its laws.
Amendment XXII
1: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term. No person shall be elected to the office of President of the United States more than twice. If the Vice President or any other person has acted as President of the United States for more than two years (in order to fill out the term of an elected President whom he replaced), that person can be elected to the office of President only one time. However, this amendment shall not affect the term of the person serving as President at the time this amendment becomes effective.
2: This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.
Credit: Melissa Armstrong
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